Winning Woman Feature: Natalie Louis

Natalie Louis turned her mess into her powerful message of victory as she bounced back from heartache and shame. Her passion is to help women recognize the queen within and become the best version of themselves that they can be. Natalie has overcome many obstacles in her life and now she is helping women do the same. Natalie is CEO of Release The Queen In You Enterprises, LLC where she encourages, empowers and equips queens to break free from their past and move forward towards their breakthrough.

Natalie published her first book titled Release The Queen In You in 2015. The second book she co-authored with thirteen other amazing authors, W.O.M.B Sisters Chronicles Volume 1, the following year made her a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author. Natalie has also traveled internationally as a motivational speaker, empowering Queens to be the best version of themselves. Natalie is also the founder of Wonderfully Made Girls where she group mentors young girls in 5th-8th grade. She helps them to learn to love themselves just as they are. Natalie is a wonderful speaker, coach, and mentor. Natalie’s overall goal is to travel the world sharing her message of faith, hope, and love.

Who is Natalie Louis and what was your motivation for starting your brand?

Natalie Louis is a mother, daughter, sister, and friend, goofy, strong, but most importantly she is a lover of Jesus. All I want to do is shine my light daily so that others will want to shine their light too.

How did you discover your purpose?

That was a journey. It was difficult at first. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer because I always thought it was awesome to be in a courtroom dominated by men, to set people free. I always wanted to help people. I realized that I became everyone’s counselor. People would ask me for advice and I decided to do something with it. I knew I wanted to become an author when I first read, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. I always had a journal since the age of seven. I decided to write my book and people asked: “Girl how can we join your movement?” I said “What movement? It’s a book.” I said, “You know what, let me actually turn this into a movement.” So that’s how I started “Release the Queen in You.” The book came out in 2015 and the business started in 2017. I wanted to help women who have a story like me from broken backgrounds and lacked self-confidence. I started sharing pieces of my story and seeing how people can relate. I said, “Wow this is something that’s needed” and I’ve been doing it since. I decided to be 100% authentic. Some people say I’m too transparent, but I feel like I share things because somebody somewhere is going through something similar. The other night, I posted something about a breakup and my inbox was lit! People were saying “You don’t know how much this has helped me; I’m going through this right now.” I shared that because I saw a picture and it made me think about it not knowing that just with sharing your story and how powerful it is, someone else can be affected.

What were the main challenges you faced with building your brand?

The main thing was my mindset and me. I thought “Am I good enough? Does it make sense? It’s different. It’s not like anybody else’s.” I always had the mindset of “Am I worthy enough for this.” That’s rooted in fear of not being secure in yourself. I had to get over the thoughts and opinions of other people, which took a long time to do. I still have moments where I have to remind myself to block out the noise even if it’s my own voice. Having that moment of you got this; this is what you’re supposed to do, keep going. Every time I would get that feeling, God always reminded me by inbox or I’ll get another speaking engagement and I’m like “Yep this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” The major thing with me was the mindset. It was never about having enough money and not having support because to me, it’s not even about that. If you do what you are purposed to do, all of those things would come. It is not easy but you see a lot of people that do the same thing (empowerment coaches) and online they look great. I’m like yep you’re smiling in that picture, but you’re not happy. I can tell. That’s the thing with being authentic. We are so scared to show people our struggles because we think it makes them look weak. To me, you’re weak when you’re hiding it. You’re weak when you’re covering up that you’re going through something trying to be perfect and you are two seconds from a breakdown, especially as women because society wants us to be strong and be this and be that. I think we have to definitely be okay with sharing our stories and letting people know that you don’t always have it together, but you keep going.

What do you mean when you say “Break up with your past so you can have a better future”?

When I say that, I’m not only talking about a relationship. Sometimes you have to break up with the old you. You have to break up with who you were 1 year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago because that is stopping your progress from moving forward. You cannot step into something new while you still have these all these old issues that you are holding on to. There are still grown women holding on to something and struggling with things that happened to them when they were ten years old and they are not moving forward. They are not having successful relationships or moving up in their jobs. It is like a revolving door. They are just stuck. I want you to break up with your past so that you can become the woman you are supposed to be. I realize that it’s not about saying you’re supposed to become better, creating vision boards, or saying affirmations. You have to do the work. You have to make the changes within yourself so that you can break free from your past to have a better future. The only reason you should look back is to see how far you’ve come.

A lot of people don’t feel like they are still holding onto things from the past. I help them to recognize that they are doing it. A lot of times I hear women saying, “I don’t trust women, no new friends, or women always…” Typically it’s always from a situation that happened. Instead of looking at the situation and analyzing their part in the situation, they look at others. I get them to realize that they are allowing themselves from being held back because of that situation. One of the big things in my life that I allowed myself to be held back from was the relationship with my dad. For years, I was angry with him, making dumb decisions based off of that. I realized that it wasn’t his fault; it was mine because it was my perspective on that. So the first thing is to get them to recognize it, second is to dig up the roots, and third is being able to pick up the pieces and move forward, having a better sense of where you’re going. Not where you’ve been.

What motivates you to keep going?

The biggest thing is my son. He’s very well vested and knows where I’m going. Also, knowing that I am able to inspire another woman and helping another woman at a stage I used to be. Whatever you’re going through is not just for you. You don’t know how your situation is going to help another woman.

My bishop says, “What’s the lesson?” Look for the lesson. Until you learn the lesson, you’re going to keep going through the same things. It may have a different face or be a different situation, but the root of it will be the same until you get the lesson.

What advice do you have for women who are looking to follow in your footsteps?

Do not ever minimize yourself for anyone else. Always be you. Be comfortable with being yourself. When other people are uncomfortable with you being yourself, walk away. Always be authentic. Do not change your values or who you are for anyone.

Tell us about some of your accomplishments so far, and which one are you most proud of?

Writing my book was one of my biggest accomplishments because I was glad I did it. I am also proud of not being afraid to become a speaker. I don’t have a list of degrees or any formal speaker training. I just know that I had a story and I was bold enough to push past the fear and share it. I didn’t even want to be a speaker at first, but people started asking how they can book me. I think it’s amazing that I can now travel and speak to empower others not just locally but internationally.

Shellon Johnson is a New Yorker with big dreams. As a child, she found her love of writing through reading and journal writing. Since then, she has grown to complete multiple degrees, certificate programs, and work in various industries in both private and public sectors. Shellon is the owner of PoshLife Events & Decor, LLC, a former New York City based event planning company, but recently decided to get back into her passion of writing, her best form of self expression. As a proud Women By Choice member, Shellon contributes to the WBC blog providing lifestyle content, and write ups on Winning Women throughout the world.